Edinburgh’s digital transformation continues

CityFibre is on track to complete the installation of Edinburgh’s new 150km ultra-fast network by the end of September this year, transforming the Scottish capital into the UK’s largest Gigabit City.

Construction has been delivered rapidly, with CityFibre employing over 150 engineers and workers at the project’s peak. It has taken just 12 months to install over 100km (62 miles) of pure fibre infrastructure throughout the Scottish capital, taking the current total to 126km since launch.

Upon completion, the network will provide a future-proof alternative to the city’s capacity-constrained copper network, whilst offering connectivity at gigabit speeds (50-100 times faster than the UK average) to around 7,000 businesses. It will also reach over 300 public sector sites including schools, libraries and office buildings.

Among the most recent businesses to be connected to Edinburgh’s Gigabit City network is Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre. As a result, it is now able to offer ultrafast WiFi to guests and conference attendees.

Iain Ross, director of finance and HR at The Festival and King’s Theatres, said: “When faced with the failure of our original supplier to provide a dedicated fibre network to allow us to host a major conference at the Festival Theatre, we turned to CityFibre and Commsworld who have delivered impeccably across all areas.

“They ensured our public WiFi network was installed in time and as a result, we were able to provide an outstanding service to over 800 attendees, each using multiple devices. We have no doubt that the Edinburgh Gigabit City project will be of major benefit to Edinburgh and businesses operating in the city, and are delighted to have found such reliable and focused partners to provide exceptional public WiFi in our theatres.”

Aberdeen and Glasgow are also receiving major infrastructure investments that will see the digital capabilities of its connected customers dramatically accelerated as part of CityFibre’s mission to bring next generation connectivity to Scotland.